Four ways to build breakthrough Facebook iFrames

Behind every successful Facebook fan acquisition strategy you'll usually find an iFrame. Be it a game, a competition or a landing page to direct fans to your other online properties. When done right, an iFrame can take a campaign to the next level, keep your fans engaged and keep your community growing.

Not all iFrames are created equally though. Some are doomed to fail before they even start while others are recipes for viral success. Here are the top four ingredients for breakthrough iFrames:

Make it mobile friendly or don't make it at all

Whether you're building an iFrame for a local or global community, chances are, the vast majority of your fans are accessing Facebook via a mobile device. This means they are most likely using the Facebook mobile app and therefore getting a very different experience to what you might be seeing when creating a web-based iFrame.

Facebook has recognised this and even defines itself as a 'mobile first' social network. So before you waste time and effort getting the web experience just right, make sure you've mastered mobile.

If you build it, they're not just going to come

Creating an iFrame and simply directing fans to it by having a tab below your cover photo isn't going to cut it. As mentioned already, the Facebook mobile experience is very different to the web experience. So different, in fact, that on mobile, none of your fans will even be seeing your iFrame tab.

This means that promoting your iFrame needs to form an integral part of your posting plan and content strategy. Recent changes to the Facebook algorithm that force brand pages to 'pay to play' also mean you need to think about investing in promoted posts. These are the best ways to reach mobile users right where it matters - in their news feeds.

Lower the barrier to entry

If you're running a competition, make sure you're not asking too much of your fans. Are you making them fill in time-consuming forms? Asking them to go and purchase expensive products, create works of art, jump through hoops of fire and then still go to the effort of uploading their own content?

While this might work for some communities, most people will simply lose interest. Don't try to force users into new or different behaviours. Rather understand what they are already doing and tap into it. So if your community is filled with adventure-seekers who are already filming their every move, then asking them to post a picture or video makes sense. A successful user generated content campaign must find people in the flow of their everyday lives, not disrupt it.

Don't force sharing

Forcing fans to share your competition or content is an easy way to grow reach, but it's also an easy way to make your campaign flop.

While there are some professional competition enterers who think nothing of spamming their friends with competitions and game requests, the type of fans you actually want on your page will be far more discerning in what they share.

A person's Facebook profile is a reflection of who they are - if you want them to put your content in that space it has to resonate with them. Many fans will actually stop in their tracks as soon as they are forced to share something they feel would be the equivalent of spamming their friends.

Be mindful of this in the way you construct your iFrame mechanism. Content shared organically simply because your fans feel it resonated with them is far more meaningful and valuable for your brand. So create sharable content in iFrames that is worthwhile, relevant and authentic - the results will speak for themselves.

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